Community, Organising and Activism

Standing and praying on the shoulders of giants

Prayer is the opening of the heart and mind to God. When we listen to Jesus we discover the unspoken words in our heart. In the silence of our hearts it is good to spend time often with the one who loves us. St Teresa of Avila says that mental prayer is sharing closely between friends. The Cure of Ars (Saint John Vianney) recommends that we should listen to everything God says in the keyhole of your heart.
The need for silence
Silence is essential for prayer so that we are capable of listening to God. The noise of the world and the seduction of pleasures can prevent us from praying. Psalm 37:7 tells us to be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him. St Cyprian of Carthage asks us “How can you ask to be hard by God when you yourself aren’t paying attention to what you say?”
Distractions
It is inevitable that in our time of prayer we will encounter distractions. Prayer is a battle against ourselves and Satan who does everything to turn man away from prayer. Satan can use the damage, mistakes and hurts of our life to make us feel and think that God does not love us. But this is a lie. If we listen to God in our hearts we find an alternative message. In this battle we must face the erroneous notions or attitudes to prayer. We must confront what we experience as failure in prayer. To overcome these obstacles we must gain and grow in humility, trust and perseverance.

It is the nature of the human mind to wander. No matter how hard we try to keep our attention focused on one thing, we can’t do so for long periods. Distractions reveal what we are attached to. They can either be voluntary or involuntary. The best way to deal with a distraction is, after we are aware we have one to redirect your thoughts to Christ. Return you mind to prayer as an act of love and offer your mind and heart to God to be purified. Mother Theresa tells us that if we pray with words, let them be filled with love and come from the depths of the heart. We should pray with great respect and trust. We can fold our hands, close eyes, lift up your heart to the Lord as a pure sacrifice.
Dryness
It is likely that we may encounter dryness in prayer. This is the inability to arouse any devotion; feeling like nothing is happening. The most important thing is not to be discouraged and to persevere as best as possible. Some causes of dryness can be: being sick or tired or lukewarm, temptation, habitual sin, timidity to serving God or disinterest in the spiritual life. As Christians, we need prayer as much as we need to breath. By avoiding going into auto-pilot, we can stop being too mechanical in our methods. Our success in prayer is not down to emotional experience but more to faithfulness in prayer.

For morning prayer, we can thank God for the gift of life. We can talk to him all about the coming day. We can consider when we are most likely to fall from him. We could even set our alarm clocks 10 minutes early to get some extra prayer time in during the day. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus rose at dawn, went to a deserted place and prayed. We can do the same.

There are some good practical tips that can help us focus in prayer. We can find a helpful focal point, such as a tabernacle, crucifix or icon. It is best to be in a quiet place by oneself, away from a telephone or television. If you start to sleep, change your posture. Some people like to write a prayer journal and this can be a great way to stay focused.

Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself. You can pray while you work. It is possible to offer all your activities as a prayer. We should pray constantly, but we can’t do this unless we pray at specific times. Even a simple prayer like, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’ is a great formula.
The different types of prayer
There are five different forms of prayer. Adoration gives blessing and honour to God, usually in silence. Petition is a form of prayer that can ask God for intentions such as courage, hope, guidance and forgiveness. Intercession is where we pray for others perhaps who are sick, lonely, for family members or even for enemies. In thanksgiving we say thank you to God for our joys and our crosses. St Paul tells us to ‘give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.’ (I Thessalonians 5:18). We give praise to God for who he is.

St Francis de Sales offered some valuable advice on the need for evening prayer. He tells us, “Never omit (evening prayer) any more than that of the morning, for as by the latter you open the windows of the soul to the sun of righteousness, so by these evening devotions you close them against the darkness of hell.” Prayers can be dry and dull. But we cannot grow without a reliance on spiritual pleasures as there is no instant gratification in the spiritual life. St Francis also lets us know that “He who truly loves prayer loves it for the love of God.”

St Vincent de Paul knew about the importance of prayer for missionary work when he said, “A man of prayer is capable of everything; therefore, it is of great importance that missionaries give themselves to this exercise with particular earnestness and without it they will gain little or no fruit, so with its help they will become much more able to move hearts and convert souls to their creator, then by learning an oratorical skill.”

In summary: Prayer is….

A turning of the heart to God.

St Therese of Lisieux said that prayer was a “surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy.” (CCC 2558).
Prayer is the ascent of the mind to God (St John Damascene). It is an act of will where we submit our will to God’s holy will.
St Thomas Aquinas describes prayer as an exchange of love that marks the starting point of mystical prayer.
Prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father, with his Son Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit. (CCC 2565).
“It is simply impossible to live the Christian life without prayer.”(St John Damascene).

Chastity is a fruit of prayer. Prayer helps us to lead a supernatural life, leading us to the fulfilment and happiness of being the people we are called to be. Prayer helps us to bring order and control to our sexuality. If we Pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can be confident that no one who had recourse to her help, sought her intercession, implored her help was left forsaken. We can build up self control and strength against sin by going to the Sacrament of reconciliation.

Providence

God’s designed the world to be full of providence. Aquinas believed that “To believe there is a God is to believe in one whose government and providence extend to all things.” Providence is God’s plan, by which he directs the universe to an end. End of a thing is its good. Nothing in nature has its own end, and therefore it is directed to something beyond its own nature and the world. Some events are directed and intended by God- this we can call providence. God’s providence extends as far as his power, and this keeps all in existence. His power extends to all things, because “not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it.” (Matt 10:29). Providence is both the plan in God’s mind and the execution (gubernatio) of this plan.

The world is neither purely determined or down to chance, or irrational. Chance and determinism both deny providence as they deny the ruling of the universe by an intelligence. Providence is able to accommodate both chance and determinism in nature. Providence is connected to the teleological argument for the existence of God which demonstrates how things are directed to an end by an intelligent being. The world is not necessitated, as God created it by free will, but providence is infallible.

How do we understand evil if we believe in providence? The Manichees believed that not everything was under God’s plan. We as Christians however believe God is the primary cause, but the sole cause of things, but he also executes his plan according to secondary causes and free agents. God keeps all things in existence but does not immediately cause all things: he makes other things be proper causes too. Providence is capable of including evil because God does not will evil but allows it and he is able to draw good out of evil. Evil is contrary to God’s will. However it is not against God’s will that intelligent beings have free will. This includes the possibility of turning against God. God directs everything towards a good end- he also has clemency in pardoning and justice in punishing in this respect.

How can chance be part of God’s plan? Aristotle said that chance by nature is incidental to other things and these things are intended. Therefore chance cannot exist by itself. (Aristotle, Physics, II, c.8, 198a 5-10).

If providence is certain, is not everything in it necessary? We are not ruled by fate and many things in the universe are contingent. Astrology states that our lives are determined by the movement of heavenly beings. A reliance on astrology is incompatible with trust in divine providence.

Prayer presupposes hope. Prayer is a cause of things happening as part of God’s plan. God wills something to come about as a result of prayer. Prayer is effective because it is part of God’s providence that some things be asked for in prayer. In Matthew 6:32 we read “Your heavenly father know you need all these things.” If all our prayers were answered, God would not rule creation freely. Part of providence is that some things are done freely. God inspires us and causes us to pray. God sometimes has better things in store for us and therefore we do not always receive what we pray for. God wants us to express our desires in prayer for what he wants to give us. If we did not need to pray for things, we would not be grateful when we received them. Prayer forces us to acknowledge that we depend on God. Prayer also disposes us for the things he has ordained to give us by providence. We do not bend God’s will by prayer but arouse our trust in him. Prayer can give us strength in adversity. If we do not turn to God for help, we will soon turn to lesser things instead for help (idolatry, consulting spirits, Saul and the witch of Endor, 1 Sam c.28 and his suicide 1 Sam c. 31). Prayer helps the saints to attain the blessed life which God has predestined for them from eternity. Therefore prayer does not cause predestination but it furthers the realisation of God’s plan. It would be a presumption to assume that we do not need to pray for example if I need to get better. It would be fatalism to think that It is not God’s will that I get better so prayer is useless.

Miracles

Miracles are evidence that it is well worth praying for things, as there are exceptions to the course of nature. They are an unwelcome reality to those who presuppose that all is explained by reason as they point towards a higher power. A miracle is a natural effect that occurs without a natural cause. God created the laws of nature, and so naturally he is not constrained by them. In the Gospels we read “Who is this man that even the sea and winds obey him.” (Matt 8:27). Hume did not believe in miracles because we have no reason to accept the testimony of those who believe in miracles. As there is no uniform experience of miracles we cannot believe those who are witnesses to them.

An introductory prayer by St Francis de Sales

Be not anxious of what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put as all anxious thoughts and imagining.

Prayer written by St Thomas More

Give me thy grace, Good Lord,

To set the world at nought;

To set my mind fast upon thee

And not to hang upon the blast of men’s mouths:

Gladly to be thinking of God; Piteously to call for his help;

To lean unto the comfort of God;

Busily to labour to love him;

To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life

To bear the cross with Christ

To have continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me;

For his benefits uncessantly to give him thanks

To think my most enemies my best friends;

For the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favour as they did with their malice and hatred. Amen.

St Catherine of Siena, prayer from dialogue on divine providence

“Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an ever-greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are.”

Prayer for married couples and families

“Gracious and loving Father, we submit our family to your loving care and leadership. Help us to be aware of our past weaknesses and shortcomings and to seek their atonement. Grant us true peace and happiness, and bless us with children who will be a source of fulfillment and joy in our life. Instil in us a deep love and devotion for You, which is intrinsic to all family life, and bless us with love and kindness in our hearts to deepen our love for You and others. Take away from our hearts all guile and worldliness, that with the simple faith of a child we may rely on You. Please safeguard us from all doubts, misunderstandings and bad habits which are the leading causes of all family breakdown. Secure our marriage and family, dear Lord , from every destructive force that alienate and poison us. Give us strength, courage and wisdom to lead our children in the right path, according to your commandments, and to fulfil well our family responsibilities. Like the Holy Family, help us to grow in prayer, devotion, patience, love and forgiveness. Merciful father, you alone be the leader and protector of our family. We implore this with humility, in the name of Jesus whose goodness, peace, joy and love are things the world cannot give ,and the world cannot take away, and Who has never turned away a needy one who came to Him for solace. Amen.”

St Francis of Assisi, prayer for serenity

Lord, Grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference

Piergiorgio Frassati

Prayer for the courage to be great

Heavenly Father, give us the courage to strive for the highest goals, to flee every temptation to be mediocre.
Enable us to aspire to greatness, as Pier Giorgio did, and to open our hearts in joy to your call to holiness.
Free us from the fear of failure.
We want to be, Lord, firmly and forever united to You.
Grant us the graces we ask You through Pier Giorgio’s intercession, by the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be Satisfied Prayer/Dialogue: – Anon.

“Everyone longs to give him/herself completely to someone, to have a deep and committed soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and unconditionally. But God says “no not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by me above, with giving yourself totally, unreservedly to me along. I will love you my child, and until you discover that only is me is your satisfaction to be found you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with me exclusively of anyone or anything else; exclusively of any other desires or belongings, I want you to stop planning, stop wishing and allow me to give you the most thrilling plan existing- one that you cannot imagine- I want you to have the very best. Please allow me to bring it to you. Just keep you eyes on me expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction knowing that I am. Keeping learning and listening to the things I tell you. You must be patient, don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Don’t look around at the things others have. Don’t look at the things you think you want. Just keep looking to me, or you will miss what I want to give you. And then, when you are ready I will surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you can ever dream. You’ll see until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working this very minute to have both of you ready at the same time), when you are both satisfied exclusively with me and live life I have prepared for you. You won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies the relationship with me… and this is perfect love.”

Battle Prayer

Lord, our God, at the beginning of this day I offer you praise and thanks, for you are so good to me. I recognize that ‘all is gift’ today, and I freely choose to live my life for you today.

I surrender every area of my life completely and unreservedly to you, and offer my body as a living sacrifice, so it is no longer I who live, but you in me. I renew my allegiance to You in prayer. I thank you that you have loved me from the beginning of time and have sent the Lord Jesus to die as my substitute. I bring the blood of Jesus between Satan and myself and reject all works of evil in my life today.

I choose today to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. I receive all spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. I recognize that I cannot stand by my own strength nor might, but only by the spirit of God. I therefore resist the devil and watch him flee as I begin this day by fighting the good fight against evil in my life.

As a soldier of Jesus Christ I confidently stand my ground as I put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of eagerness to spread the Good News and the helmet of salvation. I lift high the shield of faith against all the fiery arrows of the enemy, and I take in my hand the sword of the spirit, the word of God. I choose to use your word against all the forces of evil in my life today.

By faith and in complete dependence upon you I forsake the fleshly works of my old self and stand in the victory of the crucifixion where the Lord Jesus cleansed me from my old self. I forsake all forms of selfishness and put on love. I forsake fear and take up your courage. I put off weakness, and put on strength. I resist all lust, and receive your righteousness and purity.

I recognize that my battle today is not with any earthly being, but against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world which are opposed to the Lord and His anointed, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I tear down the strongholds of Satan and smash the plans he has formed against me today. I tear down the strongholds of Satan formed against my mind today and I surrender my mind to you, Holy Spirit. I break and smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my will today and give my will to you. I wreck the plans of Satan formed against my body today and give my body to you, recognizing that I am your temple.

Lord, our God, enable me today to be aggressive in prayer and diligent in my work, that I might practice your word today and place you first in my life. May all the work of the crucifixion, the resurrection, the glorification and the Pentecost be released in my life today. You have proven your magnificent power by resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead, and I claim this victory over all Satanic forces in my life. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving. Amen

Prayer to St Joseph for Chastity

Saint Joseph, father and guardian of virgins,
Into whose faithful keeping were entrusted innocence itself, Christ Jesus,
And Mary the virgin of virgins,
I pray, and beseech thee through Jesus and Mary,
Those pledges so dear to thee, to keep me from uncleanness,
And to grant that my mind may be untainted,
My heart pure and my body chaste,
Help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity,
Amen

Prayer before study

Come Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, true fountain and source of light and wisdom. Pour forth upon the shadows of our intellect the ray of your brightness, removing from us the double darkness of ignorance and sin, in which we may be. Grant us keenness of understanding, a capacity for remembering, method and ease in learning, subtlety in interpreting, skill in speaking. Guide the beginning of our work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion. This we ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man, living and reigning with you and the Father, forever and ever, Amen.

Benedict XVI’s prayer

And only where

God is seen

Does life truly begin

Only when we meet the living God in Christ

Do we know what life is

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution

Each of us is the result of a thought of God

Each of us willed

Each of us loved

Each of us is necessary

There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel

By the encounter with Christ

There is nothing more beautiful

Than to know him and to speak to others of friendship of Him

Prayer of abandonment Blessed Charles de Foucauld

Father,

I abandon myself into your hands;

Do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do,

I thank you:

I am ready for all,

I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,

and in all your creatures.

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;

I offer it to you

with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord,

and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands,

without reserve,

and with boundless confidence,

for you are my Father,

Prayer of St. Ambrose Before Mass

Lord Jesus Christ,

I approach your banquet table

in fear and trembling,

for I am a sinner,

and dare not rely on my own worth,

but only on your goodness and mercy.

I am defiled by many sins in body and soul,

and by my unguarded thoughts and words.

Gracious God of majesty and awe,

I seek your protection,

I look for your healing.

Poor troubled sinner that I am,

I appeal to you, the fountain of all mercy.

I cannot bear your judgment,

but I trust in your salvation.

Lord, I show my wounds to you

and uncover my shame before you.

I know my sins are many and great,

and they fill me with fear,

but I hope in your mercies,

for they cannot be numbered.

Lord Jesus Christ, eternal king, God and man,

crucified for mankind,

look upon me with mercy and hear my prayer,

for I trust in you.

Have mercy on me,

full of sorrow and sin,

for the depth of your compassion never ends.

Praise to you, saving sacrfice,

offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind.

Praise to the noble and precious blood,

flowing from the wounds of the my crucified Lord Jesus Christ

and washing away the sins of the whole world.

Remember, Lord your creature,

whom you have redeemed with your blood;

I repent my sins,

and I long to put right what I have done.

Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins;

purify me in body and soul,

and make me worthy to taste the holy of holies.

May your body and blood,

which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy,

be for me the remission of my sins,

the washing away of my guilt,

the end of my evil thoughts,

and the rebirth of my better instincts.

May it incite me to do the works pleasing to you

and profitable to my health in body and soul,

and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies. Amen

Prayers Before Communion

A Prayer of St John Chrysostom

I believe, O Lord, and I confess that thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And I believe that this is truly thine own immaculate Body, and that this is truly thine own precious Blood. Wherefore I pray thee, have mercy upon me and forgive my transgressions both voluntary and involuntary, of word and of deed, of knowledge and of ignorance; and make me worthy to partake without condemnation of thine immaculate Mysteries, unto remission of my sins and unto life everlasting. Amen. Of thy Mystic Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant; for I will not speak of thy Mystery to thine enemies, neither will I give thee a kiss as did Judas; but like the thief will I confess thee: Remember me, O Lord, in thy Kingdom. Not unto Judgment nor unto condemnation be my partaking of thy Holy Mysteries, O Lord, but unto the healing of soul and body.

A Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas

Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in thy great abundance, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will further the salvation of my soul. May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into his mystical body and numbered among his members. Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive thy beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see him face to face in glory, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

Short Prayer After Holy Communion

St Thomas Aquinas

Sweetest Jesus, Body and Blood most Holy, be the delight and pleasure of my soul, my strength and salvation in all temptations, my joy and peace in every trial, my light and guide in every word and deed, and my final protection in death. Amen

Prayers After Communion

Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas

Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank thee, for even though I am a sinner, thine unprofitable servant, not because of my worth, but in the kindness of thy mercy, thou hast fed me with the precious Body and Blood of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me condemnation and punishment, but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to thee, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with thee. And I pray that thou wilt lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where thou, with thy Son and the Holy Ghost, art true and perfect light, total fulfilment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness with thy saints. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Memorare of St Bernard

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never was it known

that any one who fled to thy protection,

implored thy help,

and sought thy intercession,

was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence,

I fly unto thee,

O Virgin of virgins, my Mother,

to thee I come,

before thee I stand sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate!

despise not my petitions,

but, in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

Act of consecration to Jesus through Mary.

(St. Louis De Montfort’s Consecration)

I, (Name), a faithless sinner –

renew and ratify today in thy hands,

O Immaculate Mother,

the vows of my Baptism;

I renounce forever Satan,

his pomps and works;

and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ,

the Incarnate Wisdom,

to carry my cross after Him

all the days of my life,

and to be more faihful to Him

than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court

I choose thee this day,

for my Mother and Mistress.

I deliver and consecrate to thee,

as thy slave, my body and soul,

my goods, both interior and exterior,

and even the value of all my good actions,

past, present and future;

leaving to thee the entire

and full right of disposing of me,

and all that belongs to me, without exception,

according to thy good pleasure,

for the greater glory of God,

in time and in eternity.

Litany of Humility

This prayer was written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), the secretary of state for Pope Saint Pius X. It is a very good daily prayer, especially when recited in front of a crucifix so that we can recall the humility of Christ.

You should recite the italicized responses (“deliver me, O Jesus” for the first two thirds of the prayer and “O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it” for the final third) after each line of the litany.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved,

From the desire of being extolled,

From the desire of being honored,

From the desire of being praised,

From the desire of being preferred to others,

From the desire of being consulted,

From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised,

From the fear of suffering rebukes,

From the fear of being calumniated,

From the fear of being forgotten,

From the fear of being ridiculed,

From the fear of being wronged,

From the fear of being suspected,

That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease,

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

That others may be praised and I unnoticed,

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

General prayer to St Joseph

Oh, Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong,

so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my

interest and desires.

Oh, Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen.

Prayer for Generosity

St Ignatius Loyola

Teach me, Lord, to be generous,

To serve you as you deserve.

To give and not to count the cost,

To fight and not to heed the wounds,

To toil and not to ask for rest,

To labor and not to seek reward

Save that of knowing I do your will.

Prayer before the San Daminao Crucifix

Francis

All highest, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness

of our hearts, give us true faith, firm hope, perfect charity

and profound humility, so that with wisdom, courage and

perception, O Lord, we may do what is truly your holy will.

Prayer of Surrender

Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Prayer of St Augustine

Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,

And desire nothing save only You.

Let me hate myself and love You.

Let me do everything for the sake of You.

Let me humble myself and exalt You.

Let me think of nothing except You.

Let me die to myself and live in You.

Let me accept whatever happens as from You.

Let me banish self and follow You,

And ever desire to follow You.

Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,

That I may deserve to be defended by You.

Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,

And let me be among those who are chosen by You.

Let me distrust myself and put my trust in You.

Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.

Let me cling to nothing save only to You,

And let me be poor because of You.

Look upon me, that I may love You.

Call me that I may see You,

And for ever enjoy You. Amen.

Shine Through us

Cardinal Newman

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance

everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly

that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us and be so in us

that every soul we come in contact with

may feel your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.

Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,

so to shine as to be light to others.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.

None of it will be ours.

It will be you shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise you in the way you love best

by shining on those around us.

Let us preach you without preaching,

not by words, but by our example;

by the catching force -the sympathetic influence of what we do,

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.

Let Nothing disturb you

St Teresa of Jesus (Avila)

Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,

All things pass away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things.

He who has God

Finds he lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.

Christ has no body now on Earth but yours,

no hands but yours,

no feet but yours,

Yours are the eyes through which is to look out

Christ’s compassion to the world;

Yours are the feet with which he is to go about

doing good

Yours are the hands with which he is to bless his people

For a generous spirit

St Ignatius Loyola

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous,

teach me to serve you as I should,

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labour and ask not for reward,

save that of knowing that I do your most holy will. Amen

St Francis de Sales

Have no fear for what tomorrow may bring.

The same loving God who cares or you today

will take care of you tomorrow and every day.

God will either shield you from suffering

or give you strength to bear it.

Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

Cardinal John Henry Newman

God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it- if I do but keep his commandments. Therefore I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends; He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me – still He knows what he is about.

Prayer to St Michael

Pope Leo XIII

Saint Michael the Archangel,

defend us in battle.

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host –

by the Divine Power of God –

cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,

who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

The Disciple’s Prayer

Cardinal Newman

O Holy Spirit of God, take me as Your disciple; guide me, illuminate me, sanctify me, bind my hands that they may do no evil, cover my eyes that they may see it no more, sanctify my heart that evil may not rest within me. Be my God, Be my Guide, wherever You lead me I will go; whatever You forbid to me, I will renounce; whatsoever You command me, in Your strength I will do. Led me, then, to the fullness of your truth. Amen.

Acceptance of God’s will

In all things may the most holy, the most just, and the most lovable will of God be done, praised, and exalted above all for ever. You will be done, O Lord, your will be done. The Lord has given; the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Act of Faith

Oh my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

I believe that your divine Son became man, died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in these and all truths, which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, who can neither deceive or be deceived. Amen.

Act of Hope

Oh my God, relying on your almighty power, and infinite mercy ad promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and redeemer. Amen.

Act of Love

O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.

Act of Trust

In all my temptations, in all my weaknesses, in all my difficulties, in all my sorrows, in every failure, in every discouragement, in all my undertakings, in life and in death in time and in eternity, O sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you. Amen.

Anima Christi

Author unknown

Soul of Christ, sanctify me

Body of Christ, save me

Blood of Christ, inebriate me

Water from the side of Christ, wash me

Passion of Christ, strengthen me

O good Jesus, hear me

Within thy wounds hide me

Permit me not to be separated from thee

From the wicked foe defend me

At the hour of my death call me

And bid me come to thee

That with thy saints I may praise thee

For ever and ever. Amen.

Peace prayer

St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

when there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

Suscipe

St Ignatius of Loyola

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatsoever I have or possess Thou hast bestowed upon me; I give it all back to Thee and surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy Will. Give me love for Thee alone along with Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.

A prayer for strength

Give me whatever you ask of me, then ask of me what you will, Lord. Remember that we are only dust, for of dust you made us! But I can do anything in Him who strengthens me; Lord, strengthen me; and I can do everything! Give me whatever you ask of me, then ask of me what you will. Amen.

Prayer for the spirit of God

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful

Enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be re-created,

And you will renew the face of the earth. Amen.

Christ Be With Me

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks to me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Salvation is of the Lord.

Salvation is of the Christ.

May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.

A prayer for Zeal

May we be driven by the love of God because Jesus died for all people, that those who live may live not for themselves, but for him who died and rose for them. May our charity and zeal show how we love the Church, which is the body of Christ. Amen.

Prayer to keep the presence of God

Lord, God Almighty, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day. Defend us today by your mighty power, that we may not fall into any sin, but that all our words may so proceed and all our thoughts and actions be so directed, as to be always just in your sight. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Cardinal John Henry Newman

O my God, give me thy grace so that the things of this earth and things more naturally pleasing to me, may not be as close as thou art to me. Keep thou my eyes, my ears, my heart from clinging to the things of this world. Break my bonds, raise my heart. Keep my whole being fixed on Thee. Let me never lose sight of Thee: and while I gaze on Thee, let my love of Thee grow more and more every day.

Classic Christian Quotes

O Lord, you are not only that there which nothing greater can be conceived, but you are greater than all that can be conceived, if you were not such, something greater than you could be thought, but this is impossible. (St Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion, Proemiumand Nos. 1,15: PL 158, 223-4, 226,235)

“Man cannot find himself except through a sincere gift of himself, the only creature on earth willed for itself.” (Gaudium et Spes, n.24)

“Truth and freedom either go together hand in hand or together they perish in misery.” (John Paul II, Fides et Ratio n. 90, in Light of John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”)

“Christ fully reveals man to man himself.” (Gaudium et Spes, n.22)

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is meaningless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, n.44)

“Natural religion is based upon the sense of sin, it recognises the disease, but it cannot find it does not but look for the remedy. That namely, both for guilt and moral impotence, is found in the central doctrine of revelation, the mediation of Christ” (John Henry Newman)

The future of humanity passes by way of the family (John Paul II, Familaris Consortio, n.86)

“Democracy without values turns into an open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.” (John Paul II, Vertatis Spendour, commenting on the risk of alliance between democracy and ethical relativism).

“The passing of such laws (that are in contravention of the moral order) undermines the very nature of authority and results in its shameful abuse.” (John XXIII, Pacem in Terris)

Aquinas- “Unjust law ceases to be law and becomes an act of violence” (De Libero Arbitonio).

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2). (John Paul II, Introduction to Fides et Ratio)

“Selfishness is the enemy of true love.” (Paul VI, Humanae Vitae)

Marriage- “bond reciprocally assumed…strengthens in turn on the love which it arises, fostering its permanence to the advantage of partners, children and society itself.” (John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio).

“Children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward… Blessed is the man whose quivers are full, they will never be shown contended with foes at the gate.” (Ps 127:3-5, cf. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio)

“You did not choose me, I chose you” (John 15:16).

Every Priest “A steward in the mysteries of God.” (I Cor 4:1)

“One cannot do anything with a heart that is vain and full of itself, it is of no use, either to itself or to others.” (St Francis de Sales).

“What shall I render to the Lord for all this bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” (Ps 116:12-3, quoted in John Paul II, Letter to Priests 2001).

Love covers many a sin (Pr 10:12, Tb 12:9).

“Let you Yahweh, rule from eternity, your throne endures from age to age.” (Lm 5:19)

“As a dog returns to its vomit so a fool reverts to its folly.” (Pr 26:11)

“It is natural for any man to err, but only for a fool to persist in his error.” (Cicero)

Pride is the queen and mother of all vices (Aquinas)

Where charity and love are, there God is

We have been brought together as one in the love of Christ

Let us exult and rejoice in him

May we fear and love the living god,

And may we love with a sincere heart (Maurice Dunifle).

God willed man to remain “under the control of his own decisions.” (Sir 15:14, and Gaudium et Spes).

Jesus- “The Physician of the body and the spirit.” (St Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians).

Ethical relativism perverts democratic societies, “Democracy can be idolized to the point of making it a subsitute for morality or a panacea for immorality.” (John Paul II, Letter to Families, 1994)

“Masculinization of women should be avoided as it is contrary to feminine originality. Will not reach fulfilment but deform what constitutes their original and essential richness.” (John Paul II, Mulieris Dignitatem)

“Aquinas is the lodestar of intellectual sanity” (Crocker, The power and the glory).

“Church is like a pilgrim in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.” (St. Augustine City of God, XVIII).

“It has always seemed to me possible, and even probable, that there would be a resurrection of Islam and that our sons and guardians would see the renewal of the tremendous struggle between the Christian culture and for 1000 years its greatest opponent.” (Belloc, Heresies).

-secularism and nationalism are 2 great evils, morbid nationalism contradiction to Bible

-Holy Church mother of all nations.

“Let the devil bay and scream at the door of your heart, offering you a thousand images and untimely thoughts. As he cannot enter except through the door of consent, keep this firmly closed and put your mind at rest. Do not get anxious when the waves batter against your boat; have no fear while God is with you.” (St Francis de Sales, Spiritual letters, Vol II, letter to an abbey).

“The soul shows its royal and exalted character… in that it is free and self governed, swayed autonomously by its own will. Of whom else can this be said, save a king? …. Thus human nature, created to rule other creatures, was by its likeness to the king of the universe made as it were a living image, partaking with the archetype both in dignity and in name.” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, De Hominis Opificio, Ch.4)

“Let us stand firm in the fight on the day of the Lord, for days of affliction and misery are here… we are not dogs that cannot speak, nor silent observers, nor mercenaries fleeing from wolves! Instead we are hard working pastors who watch over Christ’s flock, who proclaim God’s will to people whether important or ordinary, rich or poor… in season or out of season.” (St Boniface, Boniface to Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 767)

“The height of philosophy is to be simple with prudence” (St John Chrysostom, Hom LXII al)

“Conscience has rights before it has duties” (John Henry Newman, Vol 2, 250)

“Conscience- the aboriginal vicar of Christ” (John Henry Newman)

“Conscience is like God’s herald and messenger, it does not command things on its own authority, but commands them as coming from God’s authority, like a herald when he proclaims the edict of a king. This is why conscience has a binding force.” (St. Bonadventure, In II Librum Secectiaram)

“Man can be condemned by his own conscience… the proximate norm of personal morality… conscience not exempt from the possibility of error….gradually becomes almost blind from being accustomed to sin, ….(or when contrary to the universality and immutability of natural law).” (cf. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor).

“All things subject to change and to becoming never remain constant, but continually pass from one state to the other, for better or worse…. Now human life is always subject to change; it needs to be born ever anew… but here birth does not come around by foreign intervention, as in the case with bodily beings…..; it is the result of a free choice. Thus we are in a certain way our own parents, creating ourselves as we will, by our decisions.” (St Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita Mossis II, 2-3)

Christ “forms us according to his image, in such a way that the traits of his divine nature shine forth in us through sanctification and justice and the life which is in conformity with virtue… the beauty of this image shines forth in us who are in Christ, when we show ourselves to be good in our works.” (St Cyril of Alexandria, IDJE)

“It is not enough to do good works, they need to be done well. For our works to be good and perfect, they must be done for the sole purpose of pleasing God.” (St. Ligouri, Practica di Amor Gesu Cristo, VII, 3)

“Serve the Lord with gladness, in the house of the Lord, slavery is free, it is free because it serves not out of necessity, but out of charity… charity should make you a servant, just as truth should set you free… you are at once both a servant and free: a servant, because you have become such: free because you are loved by God your creator; indeed you have also been enabled to love your creator. You are a servant of the Lord and a freedman of the Lord. Do not go looking for a liberation which will lead you from the house of your liberator!” (St. Augustine, commenting on Psalm 100. Enarration in Psalmium).

Lay People: “Persons of the world for the world” (John Henry Newman).

“One can love the difficulties of this world for the sake of eternal rewards” (St. Gregory the Great).

“Origin, subject and purpose of social institutions should be the human person.” (Gaudium et Spes, n.25)

“Root of modern totalitarianism is to be found in the denial of the transcendal nature of the human person…. Who as the visible image of the invisible God, is therefore by his very nature the subject of rights which no one may violate.” (Leo XIII Libertas Prastantissumum, 1888)

“DeChristianization usually combines with demoralisation. Subjectivism, utilitarianism and relativism try to claim the full cultural and social legitimacy (John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor)

Law “Enlivened by grace and made to serve it in a harmonious and fruitful combination. Each element preserved it s characteristics without change or confusion. In a divine matter, he turned what could be burdensome and tyrannical into what is easy to bear and a source of freedom.” (St Andrew of Crete, Oration I).

“Pain is only temporary but glory is forever” (Robert Colquhoun)

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

“One cannot have God as a father who doesn’t have the Church as a mother.” (St. Cyprian of Carthage, De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate 6 CCL 3, 253, St Augustine, In Ps 88, Sermo 2,14: (CL 39, 1244))

“The glory of God is man fully alive; but the life of man is the vision of God.” St. Iraneus of Lyon, Adversus haereses, IV, 20, 7: SC 100/2, 648.

“Love of truth, sought with humility, is one of the greatest values capable of reuniting the men of today though the various cultures.” (John Paul II speech, Geneva 1982)

“The Church holds that economic, social and political issues cannot be properly approached unless the transcendental dimension of the human person is taken into account.” (Pontifical Council Cor Unum: World Hunger A challenge for all: development in solidarity).

“Memory is the moral tutor of mankind” (BBC Radio on 60th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz).

“Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Church is the “greatest religious and political nation known to history” (Karl Adam, The spirit of Catholicism).

Priest’s inheritance is the Lord (cf. Numbers 18:20)

“I will give you shepherds after my own heart” (on priesthood, Jeremiah 3:15)

“The spousal dimension of the priest as pastor will help him guide his community in service to each and every one of its members, enlightening their consciences with the light of revealed truth, wisely guarding the evangelical authenticity of the Christian life, correcting errors, forgiving, curing the sick, consoling the afflicted, and promoting fraternity.” (footnote 174, n. 55 Congregation for the clergy, Directory on the ministry and life of priests).

“I am never less alone than as when I am alone” (St Ambrose, footnote 126, Congregation for the clergy, directory on the ministry and life of priests).

“The body, in fact, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine, it was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immorial in God, and thus be a sign of it.” ( John Paul II, man a subject of truth and love, part of theology of body series, L’Osservatore Romano Feb 25, 1980, vol 13, no.8, no. 19), (quoted in defending the family, a sourcebook ed. Paul C Vitz and Stephen M Krason 1998, The Catholic Social Science Press).

The human person “is the kind of good which does not admit of use and cannot be treated as an object of use and as such the means to an end.” (John Paul II, Love and Responsibility, New York 1981, Farrar Stars Liroux, p41).

“The most intimate and intense human relationship of love is marriage: the partnership of life and love” (Gaudiem et Spes, n.48).

“Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.” (Familiaris Consortio, n.11)

“True religion is a life hidden in the heart, not egoistical introspection” (Newman).

The Beautitudes are the Christian charter or constitution. (Anon)

“Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego” (St. Seraphim of Sarov)

“First step of pride is curiousity.” (St Bernard of Clairvaux on steps of pride and humility, quoted in The love that keeps us sane, living the little way of St. Therese of Liseux, Paulist Press, New York, 1987, ed. Marc Foley).

“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

“To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception, it is an eternal loss for which there is no separation, either in time or eternity.” (Kierkegard)

“If there is harmony in the heart, there will be harmony in the family. If there is harmony in the family, there will be harmony in the nation. If there is harmony in the nation, there will be harmony in the world.” (Confucius, Chinese wisdom BC). (quoted in back to virtue, Peter Kreeft, Traditional moral wisdom for modern moral confusion, 1992, Ignatius, San Franscico).

“Strength is an inevitable and natural consequence of submissiveness to God.” (p142 Peter Kreeft, Traditional moral wisdom for modern moral confusion, 1992, Ignatius, San Franscico).

“There are three types of people in the world: those who have sought God and have found him and serve him, those who are seeking him but have not yet found him, those who neither seek him nor find him. The first are reasonable and happy, The second reasonable and unhappy, the third unreasonable and unhappy.” (Pascal, the great philosopher).

“The sacredness of human life: whoever touches human life enters into the reserved domain of what belongs to the divine, and the doctor’s profession is thus not just any occupation, but a sacred one in a very deep sense. Sacredness implies ethical duty — i.e., it excludes the objectification of the person, who never becomes a thing available for purposes different from himself, but is always sacred. …….. The more we begin to advance today on down to the deepest sources of human life, the more urgent and indispensable awareness of this sacredness of the medical art becomes. Purely technical, utilitarian action would eventually lead to the self-destruction of human dignity.” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Questions on Bioethics posed for the Church 1991 found on Catholicculture.org, Reflection on Dolentium Hominum p10-15).

A few ways to practice humility

To speak as little as possible of oneself.

To mind one’s own business.

Not to want to manage other people’s affairs.

To avoid curiousity.

To accept contradiction and correction cheerfully.

To Passover the mistakes of others.

To accept insults and injuries.

To accept being slighted, forgotten or disliked.

Not to seek to be specially loved or admired.

To be kind and gentle even under provocation.

Never to stand on one’s dignity.

To yield in discussion even though one is right.

To choose always the hardest.

(Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

“When the state claims the power to regulate family bonds and emits laws that do not respect this natural community, which is prior to the state, it is feared that the state may make use of families in its own interests, and instead of protecting them and defending their rights, it will weaken or destroy them in order to dominate peoples.” (Aristotle noted that Aristotle that the family is prior and superior to the state (Nicomachean Ethics, Ch VIII, no. 15-20). John Paul reaffirmed concept of the sovereignty of the family (cf. Grtissimam Sane, n.17) Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo. Footnote 54.

“To defend the sovereignty of the family is to contribute to the sovereignty of nations.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.72)

“The communications media propagate the total separation of the unitative and procreative purposes of the conjugal union and trivialize pre and para-marital sexual experiences, thereby weakening the family institution.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.72)

“Broken and marginalized families, through which children suffer very much, generate poverty and marginalization.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.72)

“Liberal individualism exalted together with a subjectivist ethic encourages the unbridled search for pleasure, causing the family to suffer.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.74)

“Was it not through a family, the family of Nazareth, that the Son of God chose to enter into human history?” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.75, cf. John Paul II, Apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n.28).

The Beijing Conference 1995, presumed to introduce the “gender ideology” into the culture of peoples. The ideology affirms among other things that the greatest form of oppression is man’s oppression of women, and that this is institutionalized in monogamous marriage….. According to this ideology, men and women’s roles in society would be merely the product of history and culture, and people are free to choose their sexual orientation, regardless of their biological sex. (——What utter tosh—- Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.75, footnote 66).

“There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilization. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheater. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila…. Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigor when some traveler from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s?” (the great English historian McCauley, Essay on L. von Ranke’s “History of the Popes.” quoted in Karl Adam, The spirit of Catholicism, ch.1, introductory, footnote 9).

“This is the most divine work by God and the one most worthy of the King of the Universe: to bring healing to humanity” (Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1, 12, 100ff)

“By allowing the rights of the weakest to be violated, the state also allows the law of force to prevail over the force of law.” Cardinal Ratzinger Addresses the Problem of Threats to Human Life, An address to the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals discussing the challenges faced by today’s war on life, the reasons for the logic of death and some possible responses. L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican, April 8, 1991

“No one in the world can change Truth. What we can and should do is to seek Truth and serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is within. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of the extermination camps, two irreconcilable enemies lie in the depths of every soul. And of what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”(Saint Maximilian Kolbe)

“The Physician should and may do nothing else but preserve life. Whether it is valuable or not, that is none of his business. If he once permits such considerations to influence his actions, the doctor will become the most dangerous person in the state.” (Wilhelm Hufeland, 1806).

“If a man loses reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all life.” (Dr. Albert Schweitzer).

Conscience is the “coming of divine precept to man.” (Q. xvii, A.4 ad.2, St. Thomas Aquinas)

“Wherever Catholicism is a living force, the poisonous plant of materialism cannot grow.” (Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism, ch XII).

“Charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.” (1 Tim 1,5)- Ascesticism, self control.

“He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.” (1 Cor, 7:32-3).

“Celibacy derives its meaning, its power and its serious purpose from the apostolate, from resolute self surrender to Christ and his kingdom. The love and care which a married man gives to the restricted circle of his family, are given by the priest and monk to their Lord and master, and to the thousands of souls entrusted to them by the Lord, to the sick, to children and to sinners. So the priest’s personality becomes richer and deeper, the more he sacrifices himself and gives himself to others.” (Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism, Chapter 12).

We can speak of God only by comparisons. (Wisdon 13:5- “For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”)

“Prayer leads to faith, faith leads to love, love leads to service and service leads to joy.” (Mother Theresa)

Chesterton Classic Quotes:

“Madness of tomorrow is not in Moscow but much more in Manhattan.”

“A fashionable fatalism founded on Marx.”

“Exalt lust and forbid fertility.” (on sexual morality of the day).

“There are three stages in the life of a strong people. First it is a small power and fights small powers. Then it is a great power and fights great powers. Then it is a great power and it fights small powers but pretends that they are great powers.”

“When people impute special vices to the Christian Church they seem to entirely forget that the world (which is the only other thing there is) has these vices much more. The Church has been cruel. The Church has plotted much more. The Church has been superstitious but it has never been so superstitious as the world when it is left to self.”

“The only argument against losing faith is that you also lose hope and generally charity.”

Birth control dubbed “no birth, no control.” (predicted it would lead to abortion and then infanticide, and be used in the name of progress).

“We are learning to do a great many clever things… the next thing we are going to have to learn is not to do them.” (Dale Ahlquist, Chesterton, the Apostle of common sense, St Austin Review, Reclaiming culture).

Ample empirical evidence that the 3 facets of the syndrome of an existencial vacuum- depression, aggression and addiction give a sense of emptiness and meaningless. (Victor Frankl, Man’s search for meaning, Pocket Books, 1985, p166)

“live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.” (method of Logotherapy). (Victor Frankl, Man’s search for meaning, Pocket Books, 1985, p175)

Fr. Maurizio Faggioni O.F.M., theologian and moralist, pointed “health is not simply an absence of disease, but the harmony and integration of all individual, physical, mental and spiritual energies towards a life project that is particular to each individual.” (Vatican Information Service email 17/2/05, on Pontifical Academy for life meeting 21-3 Feb, 2005).

Dr. Manfred Lutz, a neurologist, psychiatrist and member of the academy for life, “today we live in the age of the real existence of the religion of health. … Health, goodness, like almost everything in our society, is seen as a product that can be manufactured.” (Vatican Information Service email 17/2/05, on Pontifical Academy for life meeting 21-3 Feb, 2005).

On the authority of God who reveals himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot be grasped by our human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).

St. Bonaventure: “There is no difficulty over Christ’s being present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so believing this is especially meritorious” (In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I).

“It is the law of friendship that friends should live together. . . . Christ has not left us without his bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but he joins us to himself in this sacrament in the reality of his body and blood” (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1).

“If you want peace, work for justice.” (Pope Paul VI, “Message of His Holiness Pope Paul VI for the Celebration of the [World] Day of Peace,” January 1, 1972).

“Yes, let us give time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction… Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained.” (John Paul II, Dies Domini)

Prayer: “Lord give me this crown: you know how I have loved you with all my heart and all my life. I will be happy to see you and you will give me rest… I want to preserve heroically in my vocation, filling with fortitude the task assigned to me and setting an example to all your people in the east…. I will receive the life that knows no suffering, apprehension or anguish, that know neither persecutor or persecuted, oppressor or oppressed, tyrant nor victim. There I will no longer see the imitation of kings, the terror of prefects or anyone who cites me at the tribunal and frightens me more and more, or who entices and terrifies me. O path of all pilgrims, my sore feet will be healed in you: in the weariness of my limbs will find rest, Chrism of our anointing. In you the cap of our anointing. In you, the cup of our salvation, will the sorrow and joy, the tears of my eyes be wiped away.” (prayer attributed to Simeon, the Catholicos of seleucia-Ctesiphon in Persia, before dying a martyr with many companions during persecutions of King Shapur II: (A. Hamman, Preshiere dei primi Cristiani, Milan, 1955, p80-1), quoted in the Observatore Romano, n3, 19 January 2005.

“The two elements of the spiritual life are the purgation of heart and the direction of the holy spirit. There you have the two poles of all spirituality. By these two ways one arrives at perfection according to the degree of purity one has acquired, and in proportion to the fidelity one has had in co-operating with the movements of the holy spirit and following his conduct. Our whole perfection depends upon this fidelity and one could say that the abridgement of the spiritual life consists in attending to these two ways, the movement of the spirit of God in our souls, and the strengthening of our will in the resolution to follow them, using to that end all the disciplines of prayer, reading, the sacraments, the practice of virtues and good works.” (Louis Lallement, A seventeenth century Jesuit, Doctrine Spirituelle IV, 2, Art. 1,)

“The advancement of the poor constitutes a great opportunity for the moral, cultural and even economic growth of all humanity.” (John Paul II, Centimus Annus, n.28)

“Progress must ensure that the roles of men and women are preserved without driving a wedge between then and without feminizing men or masculinising women.” (Pontifical Council Cor Unum, world hunger, a challenge for all, development in solidarity cf. Mulieris Dignitatem n.6-7, Christifideles Laici n.50)

“All too often, the fruits of scientific progress, rather than being placed at the service of the entire community, are distributed in such a way that unjust inequalities are actually increased or even rendered permanent (…) The Catholic Church has consistently taught that there is a “social mortgage” on all private property, a concept which today may also be applied to intellectual property and to knowledge. The law of profit alone cannot be applied to that which is essential, for the fight against hunger, disease and poverty.” (John Paul II, 23/9/99, Address to delegation of Jubilee 2000 debt program).

“I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart, so that they will live according to my statutes, and observe and carry out my ordinances; thus they shall be my people and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

“The normal purgation and healing, whether of the body or the soul, occurs little by little, by progressing from improvement to improvement, haltingly and without haste. The angels on Jacob’s ladder have wings and yet they do not fly, but they go up and down in a regular way from one step to another. The soul that climbs up again from sin to devotion is like the dawn which, when it comes, does not drive away the shadows in an instance, but little by little.” (St Francis of Sales, Introduction to the devout life, 1.5)

“The right kind of self love is that of someone who feels that he must care for himself for the sake of another, and it is the very opposite of the rapacious purely self seeking love of someone who feels fundamentally insecure.” (Aelred Squire, Asking the fathers, SPCK, USA, 1973, p168)

“The most serious danger to humanity on its present course is that it should finally forget the essential thing, that is, its spiritual concentration, faced as it is by the cosmic discoveries made for it by science, and by the collective power revealed to it by social organization. For does not the secularist neo-religion strive, in its confused fashion, to represent the deity as a sort of diffusive energy, or even as a heartless and shapeless super society? At this dangerous stage, that threatens the existence of souls, it is, I suppose, Christianity which will, and can, intervene, to bring back human hopes and desires to the only path which conforms to the fundamental laws of being and of life. Until quite recently it could be held that nothing was so unfashionable, so anthropomorphic, as the Christian’s personal God. Yet now, in what was apparently the most outworn, yet the most fundamental, of its tenets, the Christian Gospel discovers that it has become the most relevant of religions. Christianity, faced by humanity that faces a risk of allowing that consciousness which has already been awakened in it by the developments of modern life to be absorbed in the second matter of philosophical determinisms and social techniques, upholds the primacy of reflective, that is personalized, thought. And it does so in the most effective way of all: not only by a speculative defence, through its teaching, of the possibility of a consciousness which is at the same time central and universal, but still more by conveying and developing through its mysticism the meaning and, in some sort, the direct intuition of this centre of total convergence. The very least that an unbeliever must admit today, If he understands the biological condition of the world, is that the figure of Christ (not only as it is described in a book, but as it is concretely realized in the Christian consciousness) is the most perfect approximation yet achieved of a final object towards which the universal effort of mankind may tend without fear of weariness of deformation.

Thus, contrary to current notions, it is by its dogma as well as by its moral system that Christianity is human and can be called upon once more to save the world in the immediate future… (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Personalism, La Crise Presente, Reflexions d’un naturaliste, in Etudes, Oct 20, 1937, p164)

The Church universal is a hospital for sinners far more than it is a penthouse for self-proclaimed saints. (David Morrison, www.godspy.com)

“It is to be feared that the man, growing used to the employment of anti-conceptive practices, may finally lose respect for the woman and, no longer caring for her physical and psychological equilibrium, may come to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion” (Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, #17).

“Atheism by its very nature must believe that one’s entire existence is purely based on a cosmological fluke. Similarly life beyond death would entail a similar event. But the problem is that without the Creator the creature disappears.” (Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05, with acknowledgements to Gaudiem et Spes n.36).

“If the human soul was anything less than immortal, then nihilism would be the only coherent philosophy available to man because it fully realizes the hopelessness, pointlessness and utter void of meaning of human existence. God has ensured that through the death and resurrection of his son, human existence has full meaning, that humanism is rationalized through a love for God and man has faith, love and hope.” (Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05)

“The incompleteness of human justice and human satisfaction are in fact evidence for the eternal, the universal and the transcendent. The incompleteness of earthly justice in fact indicates that justice could only ever be a viable principle, eternal and metaphysical through the intervention and action of God. Therefore justice can only exist if God exists.” (Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05).

“The dignity of the person is manifested in all its radiance when the person’s origin and destiny are considered: created by God in his image and likeness as well as redeemed by the most precious blood of Christ, the person is called to be a ‘child in the Son’ and a living temple of the Spirit, destined for eternal life of blessed communion with God. For this very reason every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offense against the Creator of the individual.” (John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, n. 37)

Finally, true freedom is not advanced in the permissive society, which confuses freedom with license to do anything whatever, and which, in the name of freedom, proclaims a kind of general amorality. It is a caricature of freedom to claim that people are free to

organize their lives with no reference to moral values, and to say that society does not have to ensure the protection and advancement of ethical values. Such an attitude is destructive of freedom and peace. (John Paul II, World Day of Peace Message, 1981, n. 7)

Church holds “It is unlawful for her to mix without cause in these temporal concerns.” (Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio n.65)

“Man’s true identity is revealed to him through faith.” (Centismus Annus n.54)

“We are only co-workers, and when we have done all that we can, we must say: ‘we are unworthy servants; we have done out duty.’(Lk 17:10)” (Redemtoris Missio n.36).

“Conscience bears witness to the transcendence of the person.” (World day of Peace message, 1991, n.1).

“cultural trends marked by relativism, indifference, irrationalism and ignorance continue to impede the human search for truth. … The Church’s teaching that reason is at the heart of every human act has come to the aid of science, and science provides insights to further understand Revelation.” (VATICAN CITY, MAR 8, 2005 (VIS) – Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture)

“ethical relativism is one of the greatest risks for current democracies” because it denies “objective and universal criteria for establishing the basis for and correct hierarchy of values.” “moral and institutional crisis that historical democracies are going through,” including “absolute individualism, materialism, hedonism, ethical indifference and the prevalence of acquisitive and competitive economic logic.” (VATICAN CITY, MAR 8, 2005 (VIS) – Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace)

“Ultimate meaning necessarily exceeds and surpasses the finite intellectual capacities of man…we speak in this context of a super-meaning. What is demanded of man is not, as some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms.” (Victor Frankl)

“EVIL- I don’t think of it as profound. I think of it as a kind of fungus, shallow but very deadly.” (Hannah Arendt).

Cardinal Ratzinger, in his homily, noted that the Easter vigil procession, behind the candle and towards light, symbolizes “the path of humanity who, in the nights of history, seeks light, seeks paradise, seeks true life, reconciliation among peoples, … and universal peace.” “Christ is light; Christ is the way, the truth and the life; following Christ … we find the just path. … Following Christ means above all being attentive to His word. … Man does not live by bread alone or by money or by career, he lives by the word of God, which corrects us, renews us, shows us the true sustaining values of the world and of society. The word of God is the true manna, the bread from heaven which teaches us life, how to be men and women.” “Following Christ, means having compassion for the suffering, a heart for the poor; it means having the courage to defend our faith against ideologies; having trust in the Church and her interpretation and enactment of the divine Word for our current circumstances, Following Christ means loving His Church, His Mystical Body. Going forth in this manner we become little lights in the world, we destroy the darkness of history.” (JPII-HOLY WEEK/EASTER VIGIL/RATZINGER VIS 050330 (470)) (Ratzinger and JP2 Easter 2005)

“Loving the Lord means life to you, and length of days” (Deutoronomy 30:20) i.e. Longevity is a divine gift.

Eucharist is “Daily viaticum and source of the spiritual life for the individual and for the institute.” (Vita Consecrata n.95)

“The family, or more precisely, the stable and lasting union of a man and a woman, appears first of all to be the most natural and suitable way of guaranteeing procreation, hence, the renewal of generations; for economic growth demands a minimum of demographic dynamism that passes through reproduction, which in turn guarantees the replacement of generations.” . …… “…..as for the formation of human development, the family appears indispensable to human development.”…… “Family policy, on the contrary, must permit lasting economic development: it should not aim to suppress the family.” (Archbishop Migliore, 6 Dec 2004, 59th Assembly of United Nations)

“The sacred is what has been removed from its natural good, in order to be dedicated and referred to its supernatural good” (theologian M.D. Chence)

“Liturgy… is a means of sanctification, it is a celebration of the Church’s faith, and a means of transmitting the faith.” (Ecclesia in Europa n. 70)

-“We (men and women) have been created like eagles that sour toward the sun, and we must not diminish ourselves to behave like chickens that do nothing but peck at grain scattered on the ground.”

-“neither women nor man can oppose nature without being unhappy. A separation from biology frees neither, rather it is a path that leads to forms of pathology for both.” (L’osservatore Romano).

“Not only do we only know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ; we only know life and death through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we cannot know the meaning of our life or our death, of God or of ourselves.” (Pensees 417)

“He whom the world could not contain was contained in the mother’s womb.” (St. Augustine)

“To speak of man’s search for God is like speaking of the mouses’ search for the cat.” (CS Lewis, Surprised by Joy).

“if what takes place in the sacraments is not the encounter with the one living of God of all men, then they are empty rituals that mean nothing and give us nothing and at best allow us to serve the numinous element that is actively present in all religions.” (p99)

“A faith we can decide for ourselves is no faith at all.” (p129)

“Faith corresponds to the nature of man.” (p134)

Religion integrates man into his entirety (p142)

Xty broke down the dividing wall (eph. 2:14) between Judaism and universalism. (p155)

Science becomes a pathological threat to life (fetus, cloning) when it takes leave of the moral order of human life, becomes autonomous and no longer recognizes any standards but its own capabilities.” (p158)

Meaningless freedom is man’s hell (cf. Sartre) (p.244)

When philosophy blanks out dialogue with faith, it ends – as Jaspers once expressed it- in a seriousness that is becoming empty (p208)

Cardinal Ratzinger, in his homily, noted that the Easter vigil procession, behind the candle and towards light, symbolizes “the path of humanity who, in the nights of history, seeks light, seeks paradise, seeks true life, reconciliation among peoples, … and universal peace.” “Christ is light; Christ is the way, the truth and the life; following Christ … we find the just path. … Following Christ means above all being attentive to His word. … Man does not live by bread alone or by money or by career, he lives by the word of God, which corrects us, renews us, shows us the true sustaining values of the world and of society. The word of God is the true manna, the bread from heaven which teaches us life, how to be men and women.” “Following Christ, means having compassion for the suffering, a heart for the poor; it means having the courage to defend our faith against ideologies; having trust in the Church and her interpretation and enactment of the divine Word for our current circumstances, Following Christ means loving His Church, His Mystical Body. Going forth in this manner we become little lights in the world, we destroy the darkness of history.” (JPII-HOLY WEEK/EASTER VIGIL/RATZINGER VIS 050330 (470)) (Ratzinger and JP2 Easter 2005)

Let me consider a few of these venial sins: spiritual laziness preventing me from raising heart to thee; inordinate affection for creatures; haste and impatience; nursing a grievance, fickleness, effeminacy, love of ease; readiness to speak of other people’s faults without any reason; dissipation, curiousity having no relation to the glory of God; talkativeness, tattling, vain and rash judgements about my neighbour; vain self complacency; contempt of others; criticism of their conduct; looking for admiration and praise and doing things for these motives; showing off what is to my advantage; presumption, obstinacy, jealously, lack of respect for authority, grousing; want of motification in eating and drinking etc. What a swarm of venial sins or at least of deliberate imperfections may invade my soul and deprive me of the abundant graceswhich thou didst reserve for me from all eternity.

“No work takes deep root, or is really solid and lasting, unless the apostle has created the interior life in other souls. Now he cannot do this, unless he himself is well nourished in his interior life.”

May nothing be dearer to me than you, may nothing concern me more than You, may nothing but Your suffering cause me to mourn, may nothing but You elate my heart, may nothing make me sad but Your suffering for my sins. You alone are the One upon who are centred my thoughts, feeling, wishes and desires. Jesus Jesus Jesus – only you!

“Letter of St. Thomas Aquinas to Brother John on How to Study”

Because you have asked me, my brother John, most dear to me in Christ, how

to set about acquiring the treasure of knowledge, this is the advice I pass

on to you: That you should choose to enter by the small rivers, and not go

right away into the sea, because you should move from easy things to

difficult things.

Such is therefore my advice on your way of life:

+ I suggest you be slow to speak, and slow to go to the room where people

+ Embrace purity of conscience; do not stop making time for prayer.

+ Love to be in your room frequently, if you wish to be led to the wine

+ Show yourself to be likable to all, or at least try; but do not show

yourself as too familiar with anyone; because too much familiarity breeds

contempt, and will slow you in your studies; and don’t get involved in any

way in the deeds and words of worldly people.

+ Above all, avoid idle conversation; do not forget to follow the steps of

holy and approved men.

+ Never mind who says what, but commit to memory what is said that is true.

+ Work to understand what you read, and make yourself sure of doubtful

+ Put whatever you can into the cupboard of your mind as if you were trying